When Remy enters the meeting room, the majority of the Brotherhood is already there. Raven's sitting beside Magneto, looking every bit as flustered as he'd hope she'd be. He knew as soon as she let that look slip in her office yesterday that she was terribly bothered by whatever fate had come of her friend. Good. He never claimed to not be petty. Betsy takes a seat beside Pyro, which leaves three empty chairs meant for Sabretooth, Rogue, and him.

He takes a seat beside Pyro and pulls out a deck of cards that he begins to shuffle in order to divert his attention to something that is not what just happened between him and Rogue. He's not entirely fond of the idea that this little meeting has something to do with the X-Men, either.

"Something wrong, man?" Pyro asks him, hiding his grin behind the hand wielding his trademark zippo.

Without glancing up from his cards, Remy replies, "Tout va bien, imbecile." It earns him a giggle from Betsy and an amused look from Magneto. He's surprised to discover Magneto speaks French, or at the very least understands it.

"I have no fucking clue what you just said, but I'm not sure I liked it," Pyro says, bending his elbows on the table and sitting forward. Despite his words, the boy wears an even more amused smile than he previously had.

"Oh, shut it, Pyro," Betsy says with an eye roll.

"What? He speaks a little French, and you're putty in his hands, Psy?"

"The language of love," Magneto comments, a smirk now gracing his unnaturally younger features. "But I'm sure it's just that she agrees with Gambit's statement."

Before Remy can be unnerved by how normal Magneto seems, the door opens and Sabretooth enters with a flushed Rogue right behind him. He curses his luck when Sabretooth sits across from him, leaving Rogue no choice but to take the seat beside him. Dieu, whoever t'ought dis complaint would occur?

"Catch you in the middle of working out, Rogue?" Betsy asks conversationally, and Remy wishes she hadn't.

"Yeah" is all that the southerner beside him replies, as she keeps her eyes on her folded hands. "What's goin' on, anyways?"

Unlike the X-Men, the Brotherhood doesn't feel it's necessary to stand and make a grand spectacle of meetings. Instead, Magneto simply sits back in his chair and begins speaking. "There's been a change of plans, regarding our..." He looks at Betsy for a moment, finding her wording awkward. "Our 'splash'."

"Big fucking surprise," Pyro mutters under his breath, eyes directed at Raven as he flicks his lighter open and shut.

"Well, what is it?" Rogue asks, focusing her eyes on Magneto uncertainly.

"It appears that the X-Men seem to have, should I say, crossed wires with ours. For whatever reason, one of their own will be attending the function," Magneto answers, his eyes falling from Rogue to Remy, which irritates the cajun.

"Who?" Remy asks, pausing in his shuffling.

Rogue turns her head to stare at him, her mouth set in a thin line. She can't help but wonder if he's hoping it's Rogue, if that's even where she is. The way he avoids looking back at her makes her think that this is in fact what he's wondering.

"Oh, that's right, you might know him," Raven finally speaks, giving Remy one of her sly smiles. "Angel. Or perhaps you know him better as Warren Worthington, the third."

Remy clenches his jaw. He knows that it's so far beyond the point where this should strike a nerve, but it does, nonetheless.

"Non! Y' don't get t' do dat, Rogue!" he snapped at her, his temper boiling over. "Y' don't get t' sit here an' get me all riled up as part of y' sick little mind game befo' tellin' me y' want me - but y' want Warren mo'."

A humorous chuckle escapes him as he resumes his shuffling. There he was accusing her of mind games, when that's exactly what he'd been doing all along. If he were a better man, he would have let Warren have her. At least she could have been happy with a man that wasn't him before she lost her memories.

"Warren ain't an X-Man," he says, shrugging in an effort to look unfazed.

"Oh, but he is," Raven tells him, delighted to bestow this information upon him. "He joined shortly after you and Rogue left the X-Men. Some say he was actually in the process of joining when she left."

Rogue turns a glare on her mother, not amused by the cruel nature that's hidden in her syrupy tone.

"Angel is very much an X-Man, I'm afraid. And considering this new information, as well as the recent developments," Magneto says, casting a glance at Raven, who sinks back into her seat, "we've decided that some changes need to be made to our original plan, regarding the Daxophil event."

"What kinda changes?" Rogue asks, fiddling with her gloves.

"Namely, you."

Rogue's attention instantly snaps up and towards Magneto and Raven. "What about me?" Her tone is weary, bordering angry.

"You aren't going," Raven replies.

Pyro laughs at the shocked look on Rogue's face, which earns him a keen glare. Sitting forward to look more directly at Magneto, she asks, "Why on earth am ah not goin' jus' cause some X-Man's gonna be there?"

"You're a valuable asset, Legacy, and if things were to become volatile-" Before Magneto can even finish, he's cut off.

"Our situations are always volatile, or haven't yah noticed?" Rogue bites back, and Remy can't help but appreciate the fire in her eyes. She's so disgustingly beautiful when she's angry. "And if ah'm such an asset, then that's even more reason why ah should be there."

"Oh, please, Legacy. You would have stuck out like a sore thumb, anyways," Betsy insists, trying to settle the subject.

"Comin' from the girl with purple hair?"

This time, Remy chokes on a laugh. Pyro's pleased smile spreads as he takes in the scene unfolding before him. Altogether disinterested, Sabretooth lays his head back with a heavy sigh, simply waiting for this to be over and done with.

"It's simply too much of a liability, Legacy. Aside from the X-Men's involvement, should you accidentally bump into a guest while at the event, all eyes would fall upon you and considering that we plan on doing a very illegal thing, it is not wise to draw attention to oneself," Magneto tells her, giving her what Remy deciphers as a lamenting look.

"Ah don't care!"

Unimpressed with Rogue's current outburst, Raven tilts her head to the side while she considers what her next words should be. She never was very good at this whole parenting thing. As it turns out, it's no easier the second time around.

Unfortunately, giving this one away isn't an option.

"You should care."

"Well, ah don't," Rogue says, turning the angry slivers of her eyes in Raven's direction. "This is bullcrap. Who gives a hoot if the X-Men are gonna be there? They ain't no problem of mine. There's no reason ah shouldn't be part of this splash just 'cause of some self-righteous millionaire bird-boy!"

"You aren't going, and Gambit's not going, that's final."

Raven's words cause several things simultaneously. Rogue's cheeks flush as her mouth shuts abruptly, looking dumbfounded. Remy's shuffling ceases. The smile evaporates from Pyro's face. Betsy looks weary over this development, despite knowing it's necessary.

"Why're we grounding Gambit? He's new, I think it's time he gets his feet wet," Pyro says, likely because he wants to see a show between the former and current X-Men.

Raven gives Pyro a look that tells him he knows exactly why Remy isn't going.

"That, um." Rogue looks awkwardly at her hands, not too fond of the idea of being stuck at home with Remy. "Pyro was an X-Man before, too. Why shouldn't Remy go?"

Betsy raises a suspicious eyebrow. "'Remy'?" The taunt earns her an annoyed glance from the cajun himself that she decidedly ignores.

"We feel it's too soon for Gambit to partake in one of our tasks." Upon a look from Betsy, Magneto corrects himself begrudgingly. "One of our splashes."

"Yeah, well, do you think this a good idea?" Pyro asks, pointing a thumb towards the two southerners behind him as he balances on the hind legs of his chair.

Unaware that he's speaking of the flight risk she knows nothing about, and embarrassed by what she assumes he's implying, Rogue leans forward to look at him past Remy. "What the hell does tha' mean?"

Giving her a coy look, he shrugs. "Nothing, spitfire. I just figure if you're gonna be playing house over the weekend, I would have liked to get a piece of that action-"

Before the rest of the words are even out of his mouth, Remy turns in his chair, violently pushing Pyro backwards until the legs he was balancing on slip, and he crashes onto the floor with amused laughter. He'd been hoping to get a rise out of Rogue, but this was so much better.

"Oh, oh man this is too good. I'm sorry, did I offend you? If I knew you had dibs, I wouldn't have jacked off thinking about her before the meeting."

"Shut y' fuckin' mouth before I shut it for y'."

Pushing himself off the floor, Pyro stands to his full height, prompting Remy to do the same. "Yeah? How you gonna manage that, asshole?"

"Stop," Magneto's voice demands, drawing Remy's burning eyes away from Pyro. It's the first time he's heard Magneto sound 'in charge'. Even more than that, sound angry.

Rogue watches in surprise, not sure what to think of what she just saw. Pyro has never ever indicated an interest in her romantically or sexually. Knowing him, she's pretty sure he just did it to get under her skin, which is why it surprises her so much that Remy's the one affected by it. She bites her lip, trying not to read into Remy's intentions. He did just reject her, after all.

Rogue watches Betsy stare at Raven intently. The way Betsy's jaw tenses and her nostrils flare indicate to Rogue that she's speaking telepathically with her mother, likely about what just occurred. It irritates Rogue enough to get back on topic.

"Alright, whatevah. Ah'm stayin'," she says in defeat, sitting back in her seat with crossed arms. John follows her example, sending another dirty look in Remy's direction as he too spins his chair around and mounts it backwards.

"I trust you two will have no issues this weekend?" Magneto asks in a way that makes the question seem more like a fact.

Rogue spares a glance at Remy, wondering if he's dreading this just as much as she his. While his actions might have given her a hope he did in fact hold some sort of feelings towards her, the rejection was still too fresh.

"Oui, no problems," Remy replies, never tearing his eyes away from his cards for the rest of the meeting.


Remy escapes from the meeting room immediately after, giving Rogue no chance to ask him what all of that was about. Instead, she turns her attention onto Pyro as she follows him out into the hall.

"What was that, Pyro?" Rogue asks, following him down the hall. When he doesn't answer her with anything but a tense shake of his head and a flick of his lighter, she snatches his wrist and yanks him around to face her. "What's your problem?"

"Don't fucking touch me, okay, Legacy?" Pyro seethes, ripping his arm from her hold and returning on his route to get away from her.

Momentarily stunned by his outburst, she doesn't waste time on hurt feelings and instead goes straight into angry mode. "No, not okay. First of all, fuck you," she snaps, grabbing him more forcefully this time and shoving him into the wall where she proceeds to jab an index finger into his chest. "What. Is. Your. Problem?"

A spark burns behind his eyes before spreading across his face like wildfire, turning his lips into that trademark grin. "What? You want me to tell you I want you, or some shit? That I want to be the guy who gets to touch that virgin skin of yours? That I want it to be my name you moan when you touch yourself, Legacy?" he asks her in a voice so silky, that she thinks he ought to narrate romance novels.

"D-do you?" She asks, shocked.

With an incredulous laugh and shake of his head, he grabs her shoulder. "Fuck no."

Fixating another glare on him, she shoves him into the wall again. "Then what? What's yah freakin' problem?"

"I don't have a problem."

"Clearly, yah do."

"No, I don't. Maybe I just like pissing your boyfriends off, ever think about that? I'll never understand why guys fawn over you. Yeah, you've got a nice body and great tits, big fucking deal. At the end of the day, you're as good to them as a Playboy magazine. Nice to look at, but then you cum all over the pages," he tells her, sparing no feelings. "And what's worse, is you let them. You let them turn you into an object, a trophy, something to be protected. And it ruins everything good about you. Everything."

At a loss for words, she looks at him as if he's crazy. "Yeah, cause ah have so many suitors. Guys are just linin' up the street, tryin' tah date someone lahke me, aren't they?!" she shouts facetiously, angry for his unnecessary opinion of her.

Chewing on the inside of his cheek to refrain from screaming at her, Pyro shakes his head in an annoyed manner. "There you fucking go! You're doing it right now!" he says, pointing both of his hands at her. "You aren't a pity case, Legacy. Fuck that. Don't do that to yourself. You can't fucking touch anyone because your mutation, so what? Own it. You're so powerful, so fucking powerful it..."

"It what?" she asks, her temper dampening slightly the more his tangent goes on.

"It makes me sick to know you let it define you, instead of owning it. So there, I said it. I don't fucking like him, and I won't like the next him, or the next him, or any him because I've seen what relationships do to you. Own the power Legacy, don't let it own you. That just makes you useless, and even more disgustingly, it makes you weak." He trails off, looking at her directly.

He's never wanted Rogue. For a hot minute, he thought about banging her when she first came to the mansion, but Bobby slid right in there, all too willing to play the doting boyfriend. That was all fine, because Pyro preferred his girls fuckable, if not at the very least touchable. But part of him thinks maybe he would have wanted her had she been different. Had Rogue owned her power like Legacy did before Gambit came here, then yeah, maybe he would have wanted her, no touching and all.

He likes the thrill of it. The idea of having a girlfriend whose touch could steal your power, and even more ultimately kill you, turns him on. But Bobby ruined that fantasy as soon as he became the sensitive boyfriend.

It's the first time he realizes he doesn't hate Rogue for ruining Bobby.

He hates Bobby for ruining Rogue.

"Just... don't let him turn you into a tragedy, alright?" He doesn't wait for an answer before stalking off down the hall. This time, she doesn't follow. She just stands there in a stunned silence.

She's never had a boyfriend for him to think all of these things about her before.


In the end, Remy ends up taking the cold shower, anyways. Instead of trying to gain control over his body from Rogue's ministrations, he uses the cold water to cool off his temper, allowing him to think straight.

There's no reason why Pyro's words should have set him off the way they did. Even with the feelings he was trying so hard to ignore, he knew the pyromaniac was just trying to get a rise out of him, and for that reason alone he usually wouldn't have given in. When you pile the sparring session, Warren Worthington, Pyro's barbs, and the thought of spending an entire weekend alone with Rogue together? Well, that was just a recipe for disaster.

After turning the water off, he grabs a towel and slings it around his waist lazily. Entering his room, he finds a surprise in the form of Betsy sitting cross legged on the edge of his bed.

"Sneakin' int' a thief's room, chere? Y' gon' wound m' pride," he tells her, raising an eyebrow as he opens a dresser drawer to pull out a pair of clean boxer briefs. "'m guessin' y' got a reason f' bein' here."

Betsy watches him with a composed calm, trying to figure out what's going on in that mind of his that she's so unable to read. "It was either me, or Mystique. I figured I make for better company, don't you?"

"Any day," he replies with a tone of amused agreement. Leaning against his dresser, he crosses his arms and regards her. "What y' want, Bets'?"

"Tell me you aren't going to do anything this weekend."

"What, y' want me t' stay cooped up in m' room all weekend? No parties while de grownups are away?" he asks her with light sarcasm, disregarding the intent he knew was behind her context.

Turning her eyes up to him with a pleading look, she sighs. "Remy, please. I know... I know that without Destiny, it changes things-"

"Damn right it changes t'ings. Not havin' someone dere t' tell y' m' every move gettin' under y' skin?" he asks, not sparing any pleasantries to lessen the accusation. "Scared 'm gonna blow everyt'ing for y' while y' away?"

"I am scared, Remy!" Betsy cries, getting to her feet. "I am very much afraid that you're going to..."

"T' what?"

"Take her to the X-Men," she finishes, defeated.

Focusing a stare on her, he tilts his head and drops his voice to a low lull. "Dat really be so bad, chere? Dis girl so important t' y' dat her life befo' all dis mean not'ing t' y'?" He searched somewhere for the Betsy he knew. He hadn't seen that woman in weeks.

"We need her, Remy. I need her."

"Why?"

"Because the prophecy said so."

Letting out a cold laugh, he bends his head back to stare at the ceiling for a long moment before looking at her again. "'m pretty sure y' prophecy be shot t' shit eit'er way. Havin' Rogue here ain't gone help y' frere none."

"This isn't about Jamie," she says, seeings his disbelieving look and adding, "It's not. Daxophil is just our current agenda, Remy. Rogue's part of the bigger picture. She's powerful, and she's someone we can't afford to not have on our side."

"Why don't y' tell me a little bit 'bout y' side, Betsy? Cause from where 'm standing, y' side looks like a bunch of bitter kids who got picked last in gym class an' now dey want t' get some payback on de class bully."

Tightening her jaw, her violet eyes flash angrily. "Things might be nice now, Remy, after the aftermath of the cure, but they aren't going to stay this way. You wouldn't understand. You haven't seen what I've seen."

"So tell me, dammit! Quit pussy footin' around it, an' tell me!"

"I can't. Just... believe me when I say it's for the best that Rogue is here. The best for everyone. You can believe me, or not. Just..." She lets out a heavy sigh, holding her palm against her forehead. "I didn't come here to fight with you, I didn't. I meant it when I said it was me or Raven. Just please, Remy, please promise me you won't run off this weekend."

It's a large amount of trust the Brotherhood seems to want to place on him over this weekend. He doesn't spend too much time wondering if this is all a scam to test his loyalties, but he exhales heavily as he looks at his friend.

"I don't know y', anymore."

"I know."

"Dat scares me, petite."

She nods. "It scares me too."

Looking away from her, he squeezes his eyes shut in frustration. Before he can think better of it, he pulls her into a hug that she melts into.

"Please, Remy." Her voice sounds so delicate, so lost.

"I promise."


A/N: Just to address before anyone asks about Pyro: there is NO romance implied between him and Rogue in this chapter. His tantrum has nothing to do with feelings for her, or anything of the like. Don't read into it, and just take his opinions as what they are.

I've been trying out a bi-weekly update with Mondays and Fridays, but I'm starting to think it might be too often for people to stay caught up. So you guys let me know in the reviews which of those two days you prefer, and I'll start updating on that one.

Thanks for the reviews!